Brittany Frid never saw event planning on the horizon until a co-worker asked for help in putting together her own wedding.
“I hadn’t planned any weddings at the time, but I’d had a lot of experience designing homes for my relatives. I’ve also moved about 32 times,” the graduate of Algonquin’s law clerk program and a self-professed tomboy says.
In 2012, she created a wedding blog named Satin and Snow, which won the Best Canadian Wedding Blog award for several years running. At one point, Frid found herself working on the blog and at a law firm full time while also working as a wedding planning assistant.
“It was definitely stressful. I was basically working 20-hour days for eight months.” Eventually she decided to go into business for herself, but three months after opening her Hintonburg boutique, relocated to accommodate the needs of her growing business.
Glue caught up with her on Wednesday Oct. 10 when Frid (pronounced ‘freed’) held a masterclass at her Kanata studio named “Frid Events”.
The event was created as a way to help other would-be entrepreneurs looking to establish themselves. During the lecture, she touched on the importance of knowing your audience, branding, using social media as a promotional tool and more.
She also spoke about getting her start in the industry.
“Usually, a company will plan about eight weddings in a year. I wound up working 12 weddings my first year, then 24 in my second and 37 in my third year,” said Frid, who wants to expand into Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
Frid went through four rebrands and seven websites before finding the right fit for her company. To create events tailored to her clientele, she outsources contractors for services and works with three teams dedicated to planning, designing and production.
As not very many planners were doing this at the time, many didn’t understand her way of doing things or how she could call herself an event planner. Despite the push-back, she continued to do things her own way and according to her, many planners have since begun to follow suit.
Frid offers a final piece of advice to those looking to follow in her entrepreneurial footsteps.
“Sometimes you just have to go for it,” said Frid. “It’s a lot of work but it’s also very rewarding.”